Roy Masters (born 2 April 1928) is an English radio commentator and author based in southern Oregon, United States. He discusses Christianity, psychology, and philosophy. His commentary is distributed through his Foundation of Human Understanding (FHU), which includes a radio program, books, audio and video recordings, web site, church services, and meetings.

Masters advocates decision-making principles for issues involving relationships, marriage, family life, and upsetting or traumatic experiences. Other topics he discusses include medicine, politics and science.

At his birth in London, Masters' name was Reuben Obermeister. He legally changed it to "Roy Masters" in 1954.

Masters originally planned to go to medical school, but after his father's death of a heart attack when Masters was 12, the family could only afford to send his elder brother to college. Masters was sent to Brighton, England to apprentice as a diamond cutter in his uncle's factory. At 18, he served a term in the Royal Sussex Regiment of the British Army.

In 1948, at 20, he traveled to South Africa to pursue the diamond profession, but returned to England. During his time in South Africa, he became more "interested in the power of suggestion and the way the mind influences bodily functions." He briefly studied methods of African witch doctors outside Johannesburg.

In 1949, he relocated to the United States where he worked as a diamond cutter, lecturer, and gem expert.

At age 24, in 1952, he met and married his wife, Ann. They moved from Birmingham, Alabama, and settled in Houston, Texas.

Seeing demonstrations by stage hypnotists meant to entertain, he wondered if hypnosis could be put to better uses as a way to fulfill his interest in the healing professions. Morey Bernstein's book in 1956 about Bridey Murphy increased popular interest in hypnotism. Masters developed his own approach to hypnosis and meditation, and many people came to Roy’s home in Houston to have him explain hypnotic regression and to demonstrate hypnosis.

Masters sold his diamond-cutting business and became a full-time professional hypnotist, founding the Institute of Hypnosis. His approach was to explain his principles and teach his meditation technique in 15 minutes. In the early 1960s, Masters was arrested on charges of practicing medicine without a license. He was convicted, then released early, after 18 days in jail, for good behavior. He practiced for two more years, perfecting his technique of “un-hypnotizing” people, and recorded the LP record, “How your mind can keep you well.”

Masters, his wife Ann, and their four children moved to Los Angeles, California “so the kids could go to school.”

In 1961 he founded the Foundation of Human Understanding (FHU). In 1983, he moved his family and the Foundation from Los Angeles to Tall Timber Ranch in Selma, Oregon, near Grants Pass, Oregon.

Masters holds regular church meetings in Grants Pass, along with other meetings that vary from a Bible studies group, to men's and women's discussion groups. He has traveled to give talks in the past, but recently commented on the radio program that he anticipates very little travel in his future, due to reduced energy level at his age.

Meditation

In 1956 Morey Bernstein wrote a bestselling book, The Search for Bridey Murphy. It was an account of Bernstein's hypnotic regression of a housewife, Virginia Tighe, who said she was a 19th century Irishwoman, Bridey Murphy, in a prior life.

Masters came to the conclusion that most people did not need to be put into a hypnotic trance in which they were open to suggestions. Instead, they needed to be freed of a widespread, unrecognized hypnotic trance that they had already inadvertently fallen into, as a result of emotionally-driven bad behavior and bad information from themselves and others. Once freed of this trance, he believed, individuals' innate capacity for conscience, intuition, and logic could guide them to better choices and to accepting wise counsel.

Masters developed a meditation technique using relaxation and visualization, which he said undermined an existing trance, quieted disturbing thoughts and feelings, and allowed a person to reconnect with their inner spiritual wisdom. The current version of his meditation presentation is called "Be Still and Know". The name is taken from Psalm 46:10, which begins "Be still and know that I am God..."

Masters routinely advises callers to his radio advice program that if they have not yet followed the meditation exercise, they should download and use it as a basis for understanding his counsel. Much of his discussion with advice seekers is about what he considers their need to learn how to meditate so that resentment will not lead them to misbehave in dishonorable and unrealistic ways.

Masters says that over 100,000 people have participated in mediation classes given by FHU.

Gender roles

Masters sees the Biblical story of Adam and Eve as a literal description of how a female tendency to give in to emotionalism can tempt and corrupt both women and men. He develops these themes into a variety of traditional perspectives about the role of men as spiritual and moral leaders in the family, correcting the unstable emotionalism of women. As part of his conservative interpretation of the Bible's instructions on morality, he advocates sexual abstinence until marriage; teaches that homosexuality is a consequence of moral and psychological issues within an individual subjected to abusive or confusing situations; and holds a pro-life (anti-abortion) position.

Christianity

Masters sees Christian salvation as a process of God's work reclaiming the corrupted hearts, minds, and consciences of individuals who repent of their weakness. His teaching emphasizes individual conscience and adherence to life principles, mainly from a psychological or philosophical perspective, with little discussion of traditional Christian themes.

Medical problems

Masters sees most medical problems as symptoms of an underlying spiritual or moral issue that has created psychological confusion and emotional overwhelm, leading to physical stress. He teaches that when the spiritual issue is resolved, the physical expression of the problem will also clear up. However, he does not advocate spiritual treatment in lieu of medical care, which he says is necessary as an interim measure, and for those medical issues that do not have a psychological foundation.

Physics

Although not trained as a physicist, Masters has developed a theory of physics concerning gravity, electricity, and alternative energy technology. On his radio program, he has offered to provide his paper about the theory for free to physicists and physics educators; the paper is also available to the public at no cost at this time.

On March 9, 2007, Masters made a 12-minute presentation, "Electricity from Gravity," to the American Physical Society in Denver, at an open forum for the public to propose new ideas that contradicted current conventions in physics.

Foundation of Human Understanding (FHU)

The Foundation, established in 1961, was originally based in a storefront location in Los Angeles that provided lecture space for talks by Masters. After successfully winning a legal challenge, the Foundation now holds tax-exempt church status.

The Foundation was ultimately intended to be a Judeo-Christian think tank, providing books, audio tapes, CDs, and other information useful to those seeking Christ. Although self described as a "think tank," the Foundation almost entirely presents only the work of Masters.

The audio recording of the meditation exercise, along with companion books about Masters' key concepts, and recordings of recent or noteworthy radio and church programs, are available for free download from the Foundation's web site. Further written and audiovisual materials are available for download in exchange for a donation to the Foundation. The Foundation also makes its materials available for free to prisoners.

The Foundation buys the radio airtime for "Advice Line," the radio show hosted by Masters.

Radio

Advice Line radio show

Masters hosts his own radio show Advice Line, five nights a week, broadcast to about 130 radio stations. The Foundation usually buys the radio airtime, often in exchange for a discounted rights fee on more popular hosts who appear on Talk Radio Network. During the program, Masters discusses proper living and gives advice to those who call in. On his program he has said, however, "There's no such thing as happiness in this life. There's only being persecuted for the right reasons."

Talk Radio Network

TRN Enterprises syndicates Advice Line as well as primarily conservative personalities such as Michael Savage, Tammy Bruce, Laura Ingraham, Jerry Doyle, Rusty Humphries, and most recently Erich "Mancow" Muller. Mark Masters, Roy Masters' son, is CEO of Talk Radio Network. Contrary to some reports, Masters does not own TRN, but does buy radio time through their network.

Media appearances

Masters has appeared on CNN's Crossfire and on Larry King Live, and was interviewed on a 1998 program on the Discovery Channel dealing with the belief in the Apocalypse and its relation to the militia movement. A short segment of one of his tapes was used in a PBS television special, which dealt with the social attitudes over death and capital punishment throughout American history. He is a frequent guest on The Mancow Show

Cult concerns

Some Christian teachers have warned that Masters' version of Christianity deviates from mainstream Christian doctrine, into the territory of New Age thought. Masters added a "statement of faith" to the Foundation web site in an attempt to address these concerns. In a 1992 open letter, he said he was a former Jew who founded a ministry that some unfairly viewed as New Age because of "often mean-spirited media coverage."

Some of Masters' enthusiasts relocated to southern Oregon in the 1980s, after Masters and the Foundation moved there. Masters had encouraged listeners of his radio show to relocate out of large cities to escape what he said was the inevitable collapse of a sick society.

The Foundation once published New Dimensions magazine, which described homosexuality as an "illness" caused by "trauma-induced conditioning," published photos of aborted fetuses and accused the media of engaging in "hysteria control" by "selectively editing and diluting certain terrifying information" about AIDS.

Physical abuse

In 1999, an ex daughter-in-law of Masters publicly made accusations of abuse, including physical violence, by Masters. After an investigation the accusations were proven unsubstantiated.

How to Survive Your Parents: And Not Do to Your Children What Your Parents Did to You. Oregon: Foundation of Human Understanding, June 1, 1982. (pbk) ISBN 978-0-933900-10-3

The Satan Principle: Life Itself Is Hypnosis: Self-Defense Lessons to Help You Cope With Everyday Pressure. Oregon: Foundation of Human Understanding, June 1979. ISBN 978-0-933900-02-8 [Earlier version: Life Itself Is Hypnosis: The Satan Principle: Self-Defense Lessons to Help You Cope With Everyday Pressure, Foundation Books, 1978.